which schools to apply to???

[findingnemo]

hii! i am currently applying to dental schools in order to enroll in 2006. im a little confused about which schools i should apply to and how i should decide which should be on my list. i have a 3.7 gpa and 22/22 on the DAT and i live in the northeast - so far my list includes Buffalo, Tufts, UPenn, BU, Columbia, and one california school (no idea yet which one!). I was wondering if anyone had any opinions about these schools or could give me any suggestions as to where i can find real information on schools (not just stats). any input would really be appreciated!

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[onetoothleft]

hii! i am currently applying to dental schools in order to enroll in 2006. im a little confused about which schools i should apply to and how i should decide which should be on my list. i have a 3.7 gpa and 22/22 on the DAT and i live in the northeast - so far my list includes Buffalo, Tufts, UPenn, BU, Columbia, and one california school (no idea yet which one!). I was wondering if anyone had any opinions about these schools or could give me any suggestions as to where i can find real information on schools (not just stats). any input would really be appreciated!

Lots of people in your situation ask this question when they start posting here on SDN. You have very competitive scores and GPA (congratulations ), and assuming everything else is in order and you are planning to apply early here in May, you should be very competitive at many schools.

Ask yourself what kind of dentist you want to be and where you want to live. Your scores are high enough to get into any school you want--so apply with that confidence. Assume you will get in everywhere. What do you want to do ? Research, Specialize, General dentistry? Private or public schools? Are you wealthy or are you looking to save money? Judging from your list, I would say you like the coastal areas. If you want to live in NY, I would probably lean towards Stony Brook or UMDNJ (10 mins away from NYC) for great low cost schools (rather than buffalo . . . IMO SB>Buffalo). For Boston, shoot for Harvard for research/specializing, or Tufts for the great clinics. I wouldnt bother with BU with your scores unless you really want to go there for another reason. UOP is a 3 year program and excellent school, as are any of the other Cali schools. UPenn is a wonderful school as well but costs 45000 a year for tuition.

Every school is a great school--you can be a success from any school. In state schools will cost you much less.

 

[onetoothleft]

Just look around this forum and do searches for information about other schools. People are constantly expressing their opinions. I bet within a month of just casually reading these posts you will come out with plenty of great ideas. Plus, you have another couple of months before you send in your apps.

 

[drat]

Just look around this forum and do searches for information about other schools. People are constantly expressing their opinions. I bet within a month of just casually reading these posts you will come out with plenty of great ideas. Plus, you have another couple of months before you send in your apps.

I would not rely on this forum to get your information about schools because what you will find are opinions, like onetoothleft mentions, which do not necessarily translate to truths. Too much bias and heresay to extract what is true and presumed true. I recommend looking at the schools' websites and calling the schools directly for an information packet/booklet. In my humble opinion, the best way to use this forum is to PM students of the schools you're interested in to get their impressions. In my experience, PMs tend to be more honest and less 'beating of the chest' because it's more of a personal communication rather than a broadcast for all to see.

 

[mvs04]

Picking a school will be one of the most momentous decisions of your life, for you see, if you pick and go to the wrong school, you will endure feces-flinging monkeys as patients, high speed diamond drills that break and fly into your dominant eye, permanently cyclopsing you, making sure that you will never be a proper dentist except at pirate themed butt parties, and graduation pre-requisites involving bukkakke. Oh and the one woman you fall in love with and marry, the one thing which you have to hold on to as a sole glimmer of hope in this feces-flinging, bukkakke filled, cruel world, whose absolute perfection is only marred by the fact that she will not engage in a threesome with you and her twin sister(no matter what you goad her with), will leave you abruptly out of the blue for another dentist down the block. And then your left butt cheek will rot and has to be amputated.... for no reason.

However, if you choose wisely, your 4 years in dental school will entail being waited on hand-and-foot by a team of 78 nubile, honey-eyed virgins, and only treating voluptuous comely, Grecian Urn-esque coeds who strictly insists on coming into the clinics completely in the nude... for no reason. You will also moonlight as a Calvin Klein underwear model, win 4 superbowl MVP rings and 2 NBA titles, and be elected the new pope after Ratzinger dies in which you will practice dentistry with the grace of God and only have patients that need full-arch crown restorations, and all of whom pay with cash. Oh yes you will also marry the ex-wife of a dentist that went to a "wrong" school, and have a threesome with her and her twin... at your wedding altar... it will be filmed... and go on to become the first porno to win an Oscar.

Apply to the schools you want to go to and figure it out during the tours/interviews. What you asking us for? We know precisely jack and crap, esp. about your preferences, personality, dreams, desires and wishes. Who knows which dental school Nemo went to, go find him.

hii! i am currently applying to dental schools in order to enroll in 2006. im a little confused about which schools i should apply to and how i should decide which should be on my list. i have a 3.7 gpa and 22/22 on the DAT and i live in the northeast - so far my list includes Buffalo, Tufts, UPenn, BU, Columbia, and one california school (no idea yet which one!). I was wondering if anyone had any opinions about these schools or could give me any suggestions as to where i can find real information on schools (not just stats). any input would really be appreciated!

 

[wammmy]

You have some good advice here and not much more to say to this. But IMO I think you should apply to all of them

 

[findingnemo]

thanks for your great advice! i was wondering, why do you consider SB better than Buffalo?

Lots of people in your situation ask this question when they start posting here on SDN. You have very competitive scores and GPA (congratulations ), and assuming everything else is in order and you are planning to apply early here in May, you should be very competitive at many schools.

Ask yourself what kind of dentist you want to be and where you want to live. Your scores are high enough to get into any school you want--so apply with that confidence. Assume you will get in everywhere. What do you want to do ? Research, Specialize, General dentistry? Private or public schools? Are you wealthy or are you looking to save money? Judging from your list, I would say you like the coastal areas. If you want to live in NY, I would probably lean towards Stony Brook or UMDNJ (10 mins away from NYC) for great low cost schools (rather than buffalo . . . IMO SB>Buffalo). For Boston, shoot for Harvard for research/specializing, or Tufts for the great clinics. I wouldnt bother with BU with your scores unless you really want to go there for another reason. UOP is a 3 year program and excellent school, as are any of the other Cali schools. UPenn is a wonderful school as well but costs 45000 a year for tuition.

Every school is a great school--you can be a success from any school. In state schools will cost you much less.

 

[MEM3]

thanks for your great advice! i was wondering, why do you consider SB better than Buffalo?

i'd apply to both SB and buffalo. they're both

 

[paolorossifan]

hii! i am currently applying to dental schools in order to enroll in 2006. im a little confused about which schools i should apply to and how i should decide which should be on my list. i have a 3.7 gpa and 22/22 on the DAT and i live in the northeast - so far my list includes Buffalo, Tufts, UPenn, BU, Columbia, and one california school (no idea yet which one!). I was wondering if anyone had any opinions about these schools or could give me any suggestions as to where i can find real information on schools (not just stats). any input would really be appreciated!

You can do Harvard too.